So if the Federal Government shuts down....

[Straw Man]

The problem with continuing to borrow to fix the economy is that it guarantees a meltdown in the future.  Our best hope is to make cuts immediately and then drastically cut spending going forward.  We need to gradually ween this nation of freeloaders off the government teet.  Obama kicking the can down the road is a complete failure, any administration can do that.  

many Eurozone economies took the austerity approach and the result in many cases has been economic contraction (the exact thing that we don't want right now).   The UK is one such example

no doubt we've got a lot of challenges but we've also got to find a way to keep the economic recovery on track

I don't know of any easy answers

[Soul Crusher]

There are no easy answers.   its either take the tough medicine now and deal  reality, or kick the can down the road and face an even worse disaster.   Its basic math.   

[MB]

many Eurozone economies took the austerity approach and the result in many cases has been economic contraction (the exact thing that we don't want right now).   The UK is one such example

no doubt we've got a lot of challenges but we've also got to find a way to keep the economic recovery on track

I don't know of any easy answers

There are no easy answers.  There is pain involved with making cuts.  As far as economic contraction, have you ever heard Coach Parcells famous quote "you are what your record says you are"?  We have to accept what we are and operate within our means.

[Straw Man]

There are no easy answers.  There is pain involved with making cuts.  As far as economic contraction, have you ever heard Coach Parcells famous quote "you are what your record says you are"?  We have to accept what we are and operate within our means.

there are two parts to the equation - spending and revenue

we can also increase taxes and take away tax credits (or give them to other industries who are creating new jobs)

[Soul Crusher]

there are two parts to the equation - spending and revenue

we can also increase taxes and take away tax credits (or give them to other industries who are creating new jobs)

Increasing taxes will not even come close to closing the gap we face.   

[240 is Back]

LOL @ the bush tax cuts getting extended.  We were soooooooo worried about what would happen if we didn't spend that trillion to keep the rich people happy. 

Fucking tools.

[MB]

there are two parts to the equation - spending and revenue

we can also increase taxes and take away tax credits (or give them to other industries who are creating new jobs)

What if we didn't have a massive government to support?  If we reduced government down to it's constitutional obligation, we would be well on our way to getting out of this hole. 

[Straw Man]

Increasing taxes will not even come close to closing the gap we face.   

never said it would

there are two sides the equation and we should do both

[George Whorewell]

 

There is no economic recovery. The impending government shutdown was a strategic plan by the Democratic party on the heels of a midterm election to basically pass the buck back to the GOP. What some of you fail to realize is that the budget was supposed to have been passed months ago by Pelosi and company. Instead,  Pelosi and the rest of plague deliberately balked on submitting a budget precisely so that they could blame the GOP for spending cuts and/ or a government shutdown. These idiots think its 94-95 all over again. It isn't.

The only thing that Paul Ryan's budget does is put spending back at 2008 levels; hardly a herculean feat. Now we have the left with its usual, tired, grossly inaccurate and wildly absurd class warfare talking points about Paul Ryan tossing grandma out of a moving van into the river wearing cement shoes and going on taxpayer funded cruises with the Grand Wizard of the KKK and the CEO of BP. Its complete and utter nonsense.

And again, as I said earlier, this "shutdown" is not really a shutdown anyway.

[MB]

There is no economic recovery. The impending government shutdown was a strategic plan by the Democratic party on the heels of a midterm election to basically pass the buck back to the GOP. What some of you fail to realize is that the budget was supposed to have been passed months ago by Pelosi and company. Instead,  Pelosi and the rest of plague deliberately balked on submitting a budget precisely so that they could blame the GOP for spending cuts and/ or a government shutdown. These idiots think its 94-95 all over again. It isn't.

The only thing that Paul Ryan's budget does is put spending back at 2008 levels; hardly a herculean feat. Now we have the left with its usual, tired, grossly inaccurate and wildly absurd class warfare talking points about Paul Ryan tossing grandma out of a moving van into the river wearing cement shoes and going on taxpayer funded cruises with the Grand Wizard of the KKK and the CEO of BP. Its complete and utter nonsense.

And again, as I said earlier, this "shutdown" is not really a shutdown anyway.

LMAO

[Soul Crusher]

Unions slam Obama for withholding shutdown plans
Hotair ^ | April 5, 2011



“Federal employees are being held hostage because these plans are not being made available,” said William R. Dougan, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees, whose members include civilian Defense Department workers. “It’s disrespectful to hold these folks in limbo until the last minute.”

He called “inexcusable” the government’s decision not to tell federal workers who would be sent home and who would be told to keep working.

It was some of the strongest rhetoric that federal unions have used against a White House that has generally had the support of government unions. As a shutdown has loomed for weeks, with the clock running out at midnight Friday, the Office of Management and Budget has ordered federal agencies to remain mum on details.

Read the Article



(Excerpt) Read more at hotair.com ...

[MM2K]

I'm talking about Repubs sudden interests in the deficit after not giving a shit and even reveling in it for 20+ years

There is no doubt it needs to be addressed but at the same time we're in the beginning stages of a recovery (with a long way to go) and to just slash and burn indiscriminately  will make things worse

The problem is that Repubs and Dems (and mostly Repubs in my opinion) can't get past their ideological biases.   I want to see both sides put some skin in the game

Youre not serious are you? Deficits under REagan and Bush were not at these current levels. Deficits are not a problem if they are kept within reason. These current deficits are not within reason. Also, Reagan actually grew the economy while deficits increased.  Obama has not grown the economy at all.

[Cliff Clavin]

Youre not serious are you? Deficits under REagan and Bush were not at these current levels. Deficits are not a problem if they are kept within reason. These current deficits are not within reason. Also, Reagan actually grew the economy while deficits increased.  Obama has not grown the economy at all.

norm wants to know what the deficits was like under 8 years of clinton?compared to that of bush/reagon with inflation adjustment included..

[Soul Crusher]

norm wants to know what the deficits was like under 8 years of clinton?compared to that of bush/reagon with inflation adjustment included..

Clinton / Newt was the most fiscally responsible duo in my memory. 

[Soul Crusher]

Government Contractors Brace for Shutdown (Obama may use SS tax revenues to pay shutdown costs)
The Wall Street Journal ^ | 2011-04-04 | Elizabeth Williamson


U.S. businesses are bracing for layoffs and disruptions along their supply chains if the federal government shuts down later this week because of an impasse over the federal budget.

(snip)

Especially hard hit are small and midsized businesses that rely on steady flows of revenue from federal contracts to provide a wide array of products and services such as information technology consulting, building construction and maintenance, or food service at national parks.

(snip)

Should the government close, the Treasury could provide a several-hundred billion dollar cushion by borrowing from Social Security, federal pensions and other funds, says Gary Hufbauer, a former Treasury official who is senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics in Washington.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------


All because POTUS Madoff refuses to cut any spending.  What a friggin joke this asshole is.   

[Soul Crusher]

Federal Workers Union Sues White House Over Possible Government Shutdown
Fox News ^ | 4/5/2011 | fox news

With time running out for congressional leaders to reach a budget deal, the country's biggest federal workers union is taking the Obama administration to court for what it called a failure to explain how federal programs and services would be affected if there's a government shutdown.

The American Federation of Government Employees announced Tuesday that it filed a lawsuit in federal court last week seeking details on the shutdown plans of federal agencies.

The union's national president, John Gage, said he filed the lawsuit after the White House Office of Management and Budget failed to respond to a Freedom of Information Act request sent early last month.

Gage said public unions have been given very little information on how agencies would determine which employees are essential in the event of a government shutdown.

"It's not something that should be cavalierly handled," Gage said in a written statement. "If a shutdown goes on, there will be federal employees who are going to be hurt financially. They should know before the eve of a shutdown what is happening and it should be done orderly and not in a last-minute rush."


(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

[OzmO]

Failure to explain?
 

[Soul Crusher]

Obama headed out of D.C. as shutdown looms
Washington Post ^ | 4/6/2011 | Perry Bacon Jr

________________________ ________________________ _--



A fiery President Obama insisted Tuesday that if he and congressional leaders couldn’t reach a deal to avert a government shutdown, “I want a meeting again tomorrow here at the White House.”

“I will invite the same folks that we invited today,” he added. “And if that doesn’t work, we’ll invite them again the day after that. And I will have my entire team available to work through the details of getting a deal done.”


Obama’s team may not include the president himself. Despite the impasse in Washington over federal spending, the president as of early Wednesday was scheduled to give two speeches outside of Washington: one on energy in the Philadelphia suburbs, then another Wednesday evening to a group of black political activists in New York.


If the schedule remains intact, it will be the president’s first trip outside the capital since he officially declared Monday he will seek a second term. And while Obama (D) and his aides have repeated said he will not focus on his campaign in the next few months, his schedule may contradict those words.

Obama’s town hall on energy will be held at a wind turbine plant in the town of Fairless Hills in Bucks County, a well-known political bellwether in the Philadelphia area. While the city of Philadelphia overwhelmingly votes Democratic, its suburbs swing between the Democratic and Republican parties, making them crucial for Obama’s 2012 campaign.


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


________________________ _____________-

Imagine President Bachmann/Palin/Trump/Paul going to Idahoe to speak to "white political activists"   ? ? ?   

[Soul Crusher]

[Soul Crusher]

Government shutdown could idle 800,000 workers: official
REUTERS ^ | 04/06/2011 | Matt Spetalnick



Reuters) - Around 800,000 workers could be idled and activities ranging from processing of tax filings and Small Business Administration loans could be suspended if the U.S. government is forced to shut down in a budget deadlock, a senior U.S. official said on Wednesday.


(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...


________________________ ________________________ ____


YES!   

[newmom]

what about older people on social security..they wont be getting their checks..that will be fucked up

[pro nitrousADRL]

people who already get their ss check will get it.  people trying to enroll wont be able to though

[Soul Crusher]

what about older people on social security..they wont be getting their checks..that will be fucked up

Tough shit - we are broke.   Time to get real about our finances and end the ponzi scheme we have.  Most seniors at this point are welfare cases as it is and collecting far more than they ever paid paid in, inflation, interest, adjusted.      

[newmom]

Tough shit - we are broke.   Time to get real about our finances and end the ponzi scheme we have.  Most seniors at this point are welfare cases as it is and collecting far more than they ever paid paid in, inflation, interest, adjusted.      

why. they worked for that money. Put into it. Some I know are barely making it..One served our country for 2 wars..He deserves it

[240 is Back]

so old people who worked 40 years and are turning 66 and signing up -
they don't deserve social security.

But

According to Paul Ryan, corporations should be paying 25% INSTEAD of 35%.  He wants to slash grandma so AIG can pay less in taxes. 

That's freaking rich.